Ligand binding and substrate discrimination by UDP-galactopyranose mutase.

ABSTRACT: Galactofuranose (Galf) residues are present in cell wall glycoconjugates of numerous pathogenic microbes. Uridine 5'-diphosphate (UDP) Galf, the biosynthetic precursor of Galf-containing glycoconjugates, is produced from UDP-galactopyranose (UDP-Galp) by the flavoenzyme UDP-galactopyranose mutase (UGM). The gene encoding UGM (glf) is essential for the viability of pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and this finding underscores the need to understand how UGM functions. Considerable effort has been devoted to elucidating the catalytic mechanism of UGM, but progress has been hindered by a lack of structural data for an enzyme-substrate complex. Such data could reveal not only substrate binding interactions but how UGM can act preferentially on two very different substrates, UDP-

SUBMITTER: Gruber TD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2771219 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature